Articulating Intersex: A Crisis at the Intersection of Scientific Facts and Social Ideals

This book explores the ethical dilemma clinicians may face when disclosing a diagnosis of atypical sex. The moment of disclosure reveals an epistemic incompatibility between scientific fact and social meaning in relation to sex. Attempting to assess the bio-psychosocial implications of this dilemma highlights a complex historic antagonism between fact and meaning making satisfactory resolution of this dilemma difficult. Drawing on David Hume, WVO Quine and Michel Foucault the author presents an integrative model, which views scientific fact and social meaning as codetermining threads in one fabric of knowledge. From this epistemic perspective, the ethical dilemma is understood as a tear in the fabric signifying a rupturing of ontological integrity. To mend this tear and resolve the ethical dilemma three metaphysical perspectives are considered: essentialism, naturalism and emergentism. The book’s unique features include: an exploration of the impact of diagnostic disclosure on people with atypical sex (intersex); a synthesis of the epistemic perspectives of social and natural science facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration; a critical evaluation of three metaphysical perspectives on atypical sex (intersex); the application of Hume’s epistemological and moral distinctions to contemporary biomedicine and bioethics. The book’s target audience includes academics, students and professionals whose work intersects the natural and social sciences, and individuals interested in the metaphysics, epistemology and meta-ethics of sex.

• biomedical science
• sex and intersex
• normative interventions
• diagnosis of intersex
• meta-ethics of intersex
• epistemic monism
• extentsialism and intersex
• biological essentialism
• naturalism and intersex
• naturalism is normativism
• emergentism and intersex
• human morals and intersex
• Hume's value distinction

• Department of Social Science, Institute of Technology, Sligo, Sligo, Ireland

  Natalie Delimata

Natalie Delimata lectures in Social Science at the Institute of Technology, Sligo where she completed her PhD in 2017 exploring the management of atypical sex (intersex) in Ireland. Her field of interest includes the philosophies of social and natural science, in particular the relationship between reality, morality and meaning. Her current work focuses on how metaphysical and epistemic beliefs inform moral decisions, specifically in relation to sex and gender. Delimata has been consulted by the Department of Justice, Ireland; Surrey University, UK and the Global DSD Endeavour, an international biomedical consortium established in 2014 to evaluate atypical sex (intersex) treatment.  As part of her role on the Global DSD Endeavour Working Group on Nomenclature, Delimata became the lead author of a paper entitled: "Evaluating the Term ‘Disorders of Sex Development’: A Multidisciplinary Debate" (Delimata, Simmonds, O’Brien, Davis, Auchus and Lin-Su 2018). This paper presents the major themes explored by the nomenclature group whose nineteen members were tasked with evaluating the controversial term ‘disorders of sex development’. Delimata has presented her work internationally at both medical and social science conferences.

Policies and ethics